TOPIC: 1961 Merc 800 - video from shore - different prop

P.S. Pete, current setup looks good. I'd keep the 20" mid for now and just tweak it for the education value, which is priceless. Robby, good on ya for offering up that prop. Conrad's suggestion of the 3" setback jackplate is great advice. Don't want to get carried away with too much setback because of added strain on the transom, and you really don't want more than you need.

Tuning and tweaking to find maximum performance is always a blast, and it allows more time in the seat (on the water) as stated which is always a plus in my book!

You may get to a point like I did with my last project (54 MPH best top speed) where you start losing "daily drivability" or it becomes economically unfeasible to carry it further. High speed test runs are fun, but I decided the majority of my boating would be at cruising speeds anyway.

Until you get to that point have a ball eeking out the last little bit of speed you can, as you can see there are plenty of great folks here willing to help you with the quest. You have a great looking setup there Pete, enjoy and congrats on putting together a very nice rig!

Seems some confusion on my props pix. I'll send Pete the aluminum one. The hubless SS is mine that I run on my Flattbottom and it works fine. The Alum blows out a punch me, but I have more HP then Pete.

Robby321 wrote:

Seems some confusion on my props pix. I'll send Pete the aluminum one. The hubless SS is mine that I run on my Flattbottom and it works fine. The Alum blows out a punch me, but I have more HP then Pete.

Ahhh, I was confused. He needs a stainless cupped performance prop. A no cup aluminum won't help much at this point.

If you don't want all the set back, you can sell that CMC trim unit, find an original mercury dual cylinder trim unit and mount the boat on a standard 6 inch jack plate. You usually need 6 inches to clear the thumb screws.

Lots of Laser II's out there for sale. From what I hear they are great props for the money. I personally do not own one.

Agreed, the laser 11 will lift the bow and glue the back end to the water for you. I ran one for 4 years on my bass boat with a merc 1150 and 1400 and 1500. Engine was jacked up 4 inches and back 6. I could not break that laser 11 free of the water even when I accidentally planted the bow in a wave during a full throttle hard turn.